3 definitions
by
Ururu

-used by Filipinos for their compatriots in the Philippines and around the world. Filipinos usually refer to themselves informally as Pinoy or some times feminine: Pinay, which is formed by taking the last four letters of the word 'Filipino' and adding the diminutive suffix -y. The word was coined by expatriate Filipino Americans during the 1920s and was later adopted by Filipinos in the Philippines.

-Pinoy is a term of endearment and is rarely used in formal settings. The term is akin to that of a nickname which is used by close family members and friends so that one who uses it somehow already developed some close ties with Filipinos.

-The term especially gained popular currency in the late 1970s in the Philippines when a surge in patriotism made a hit song of Filipino folksinger Heber Bartolome's "Tayo'y mga Pinoy" (We are Filipinos), and later with famous Filipino band Bamboo's "Noy-pi" (Pinoy in reversed syllables).

-In addition to Pinoy, Filipinos also refer themselves as Filipinos and Filipinas, Filipinos for the male gender (masculine), and Filipinas for the female gender (feminine).

-In New Zealand, the term is applied to a person who has emigrated from one of the smaller islands of the Pacific to New Zealand in modern times, or one of their descendants born in New Zealand. While the majority of these people originate from Polynesia, others come from Micronesia and Melanesia. The term is used to distinguish these people from the indigenous New Zealand M&#257;ori (who are also Polynesian but arrived in New Zealand many centuries earlier), and from other ethnic groups. A stated reason for making the ethnic distinction is that the Pacific peoples suffer from socio-economic disadvantages as a group and benefit from culturally targeted social and health assistance.

-In Australia, "Pacific Islander" means a person from islands in the Pacific, as in New Zealand.

-In the United States, "Pacific Islander" refers to people from the same locations. In U.S. usage it is most commonly seen as "Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders".

-It excludes people who trace to non-Pacific Island origins (e.g., descendants of Chinese or European colonists) that may now reside on the islands. It would also exclude New Zealanders, except the M&#257;ori who are Polynesian, nor would it include Australians or indigenous Australians (except perhaps Torres Strait Islanders, who are generally not included under the designation "Australian Aborigines").

Inhabitants of Russia's Kuril Islands, Alaska's Aleutian Islands, and the Taiwanese, Japanese, Filipino, and Indonesian islands, although technically bordering edges of the Pacific Ocean, do not fall under the definition of "Pacific Islanders" because such islands are not actually located within the Pacific or therefore any of the three regions of Oceania (Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia), and ethnicities native to the latter four among the aforementioned are thus classified as "Asians" on the U.S. Census. Despite this, a growing number of Filipino-Americans have denied the classification of being "Asian", instead claiming to be "Pacific Islanders", which has provoked dismay among some Pacific Islanders who actually belong to the Oceanic cultures comprising the commonly accepted definition of the term, and has also prompted allegations of cultural denial from other Filipinos, the worldwide majority of whom identify themselves as being Asian (as the Filipino government has stated since its foundation that the Philippines is a part of Asia). However, it should be noted that both groups, as well as aboriginals from Taiwan, other countries of Maritime Southeast Asia (including Indonesia), and the Madagascar Malagasy are all closely related ethnically and can be grouped together under one umbrella term, the Austronesians.

For instance, U.S. Census category was "Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders" (NHPI). NHPI refers to people having origins from any of the indigenous peoples of Hawaii, the Marianas, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicated their race or races as "Native Hawaiian", "Guamanian or Chamoru", "Samoan", or "Other Pacific Islander", or wrote in entries such as Tahitian, Mariana Islander, or Chuukese.

-Flip is a term used colloquially by Filipino American youth to refer to those of Filipino descent.

-According to the late journalist and activist Alex Fabros, Sr. (1903–1999), the term was first used among Filipinos sometime after his immigration to the United States in 1929.

-While Flip is usually used inoffensively, the folk etymology of the term is that it is an acronym for fucking little island people which was allegedly coined by American soldiers during World War II. In response, many young Filipino Americans changed the first word of the acronym to funny, fine, or friendly. The slang flip was invariably used as an acronym for fine-looking island people by Flip Gear, a California-based clothing brand1 .

-A more plausible etymology of the term is that it is derived from the word Filipino.

-There are Filipinos who do avoid the term for other reasons (such as "flipped" being used to mean "gone crazy", giving the term a perceived negative connotation) and prefer to be simply called Filipino or Pinoy/Pinay instead.